Coming home...
We saw Europe, tried new foods, met new people, visited amazing places, learned about other cultures - and now it’s all over.
Six months gone just like that! (Check out my infographic below as it contains all of these fun and interesting stats about our EuroTrip'16 travels).
People always talk about taking that great trip, but they never really talk about coming home?
So...how...does...it...feel...to...be...home?
I’ve been back in Ottawa, for some time now, and that’s the first question everyone asks.
BTW it’s the toughest one to answer.
To put it mildly it is a roller-coaster of emotions.
I didn’t want the journey to end. I didn’t want to leave my sister and brother-in-law. I didn’t want to return home, or to reality, for that matter.
AND I guess I didn’t think I’d love Europe as much I did.
Oh I knew by the end of the six months that it was time to go home. I felt dog-tired, but enthused to start a new direction in my life back in Ottawa.
AND honestly the last couple of weeks of travelling blended one into the other, and before I knew it, I was on that last flight (of 15 or so) and headed back to Ottawa.
As the plane descended over the south of Ottawa, a stirring or rather a melancholy and gloomy feeling came over me and caused my stomach to twist into knots - we were nearly home!
The grey tarmac and concrete buildings, of the Ottawa airport, didn’t really help to make the prospect of my homecoming any brighter.
Arriving home felt strange almost culture-shock like. Everything seemed so different, but yet I knew everything was exactly the same.
AND it was then I made the realization - I had missed my family, friends, my city and my country - so much.
From the moment I arrived home up until this very day, I have been trying to keep busy with everything from, working at new job, going out with friends, visiting family, and the list goes on. I have only had a hand full of days where I had nothing to do. What a difference from having no plans and priorities at all from the previous six months.
This came to me as the biggest culture-shock of all.
Although it has been a struggle to return home, I am so glad that I decided to take six months of my life to leave everything behind and travel throughout Europe. (I have my like-minded husband to thank for that!)
Six months isn’t really a lot time, but you realize just what an accomplishment it was and how the experience was an extraordinary event that very few people on this earth get the chance to do. That changes you somehow. It changes your outlook on life, on your work and on your friends and family.
AND because of that my gaze will always be on the horizon, looking, dreaming, and wishing for another opportunity to get away again - and soon.
Thanks for tagging along.
Curious have you travelled for an extended period of time, then returned home? What helped you to adjust, and thrive?
